Currently Browsing: Living in New Zealand
Posted on Sep 25, 2006 in Do, Living in New Zealand | 5 comments

Christchurch Hot Chocolate

My email has been acting up recently so it’s taken me a while to realise that I actually have a couple of real messages amongst all the ridiculous spam that crams up my inbox. One of the more interesting mails was from the recently opened and wonderfully named Ya-Ya House of Excellent Teas (see below)...
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Posted on Sep 21, 2006 in Do, Living in New Zealand, Return to Ireland | 2 comments

Slow Food Events in Dublin, Ireland and Christchurch, NZ

Slow Food Events in Dublin, Ireland and Christchurch, NZ
Whether you’re in Dublin or Christchurch, New Zealand this weekend, there are plenty of Slow Food-organised events taking place. The Christchurch branch have their second “how to survive when ship-wrecked” morning by the sea taking place on Saturday 23 September. Led by Slow Food member,...
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Posted on Jan 4, 2006 in Bake, Living in New Zealand | 16 comments

A New Zealand classic: Ginger Gems

A New Zealand classic: Ginger Gems
One of the kitchen items that I regretted having to leave in New Zealand were my gem irons. Gem irons – cast-iron baking tins, divided into a dozen small curved spaces and used to make the light spicy little loaves called Ginger Gems – seem to be indigenous to New Zealand. I had never come...
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Posted on Nov 24, 2005 in Do, Living in New Zealand | 6 comments

Goodbye to New Zealand

Well, all good things come to an end at some stage. I’ve left New Zealand – with many regrets – to return to my job in Ireland. I will continue writing about food from this side of the world with, perhaps after my 12 months away, a new perspective on what I may have formerly taken for...
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Posted on Nov 1, 2005 in Cookery Books, Living in New Zealand, Read | 0 comments

Simply Irresistible French Desserts by Christelle Le Ru

Simply Irresistible French Desserts by Christelle Le Ru
Why is it that recipe names look so much more evocative when written in French? Gâteau au chocolate et à l’abricot seems so much more sophisticated than just plain Chocolate apricot cake. Still, from the look of this slice of this moist dark cake pictured in Christelle Le Ru‘s Simply...
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Posted on Oct 30, 2005 in Living in New Zealand, Storecupboard Specials | 0 comments

Peter Gordon’s Tomato and Chilli Jam

Peter Gordon’s Tomato and Chilli Jam
Before I came to New Zealand I had only vaguely heard of Kiwi chef Peter Gordon. From articles that popped up every so often in the English newspapers that I read, I knew that he cooked at The Sugar Club (still, I think, a truly brilliant name for a restaurant) and that he was designated king of what became...
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Posted on Oct 26, 2005 in Cook, Do, Living in New Zealand | 2 comments

A tale of camping food and missing sleeping bags: Sloppy Joes for Campsite Cooking

Last weekend being a long weekend, the Boyfriend and I decided to abandon Christchurch and open our personal camping season with a trip to the small town of Geraldine. For me, camping is a challenge to see what I can cook with limited ingredients and resources and this, the first camping trip of the year,...
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Posted on Oct 25, 2005 in Do, Living in New Zealand | 7 comments

Cup conversion issues

Although I’m not a huge fan of her bare basics books, Delia Smith’s website is a very useful reference point. She has a helpful table of conversions here that are especially good when you’re trying to convert a recipe using American cup measurements to metric but, alas, there are no...
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Posted on Oct 20, 2005 in Brewing and beer, Do, Eating Out, Living in New Zealand | 0 comments

Beer and food matching at Canterbury Brewery

Beer and food matching at Canterbury Brewery
One night a few weeks ago the Boyfriend and I accompanied our Scottish physiotherapist housemates to a celebration of International Physiotherapist Day. Now, going to celebrations of other people’s careers is not something that we would normally do but, as this was taking place at Christchurch’s...
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Posted on Oct 11, 2005 in Do, Eating Out, Living in New Zealand | 0 comments

A weekend hideaway

A weekend hideaway
After a stressful week, all you want to do at the weekend is get out of the city (without driving too far), stay in a comfortable place (without paying too much) and eat some good food. In search of just such a place, the Boyfriend and I stayed at the historic Governors Bay Hotel last weekend. Although it...
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Posted on Oct 6, 2005 in Cook, Living in New Zealand | 6 comments

Pumpkin heaven: Spiced Pumpkin Soup

My only experience of pumpkins while in Ireland was at Halloween during my first year in Dublin. One of my then housemates bought a pumpkin and carved it into a grinning Jack O’Lantern to sit in the window. I had only ever made Jack O’Lanterns from turnips before and was amazed at how easy it is...
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Posted on Sep 28, 2005 in Do, Living in New Zealand | 0 comments

Cooking classes

One of the things that I do enjoy about living in New Zealand are all the cookery classes that are on offer. Not only the usual night courses at the various schools around Christchurch, but also food shops offering classes in the use of their goods à la the Mediterranean Food Company and Café and tonight...
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Posted on Sep 9, 2005 in Bake, Do, Living in New Zealand | 7 comments

Fair Trade spices in Oxfam

Fair Trade spices in Oxfam
My local Oxfam Fair Trade shop here in Christchurch has started stocking Fair Trade spices, including ground ginger, cinnamon – ground and sticks, whole cloves, whole and ground black peppercorns and chilli powder, all from Sri Lanka. I’ve only bought the black peppercorns so far –...
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Posted on Sep 8, 2005 in Cookery Books, Living in New Zealand, Read | 2 comments

Taste: Baking With Flavour by Dean Brettschneider and Lauraine Jacobs ****

Taste: Baking With Flavour by Dean Brettschneider and Lauraine Jacobs ****
Taste: Baking With Flavour is the third book from the partnership of professional baker Dean Brettschneider and contributing food editor at Cuisine magazine, Lauraine Jacobs. Their first two books – The New Zealand Baker and Baker, The Best of International Baking from Australian and New Zealand...
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Posted on Sep 4, 2005 in Do, Living in New Zealand | 2 comments

A wet day at the farmers’ market

Even though yesterday was a miserable day in Lyttelton, it looked like the farmers’ market was successful. The Boyfriend, his sister and I made our way out there around 11am and the Supervalue Carpark was pretty busy by that stage, with a few of the suppliers already running out of supplies. We...
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